Alpha & Omega Series Review

Anna never knew werewolves existed, until the night she survived a violent attack… and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. Then Charles Cornick, the enforcer- and son- of the leader of the North American werewolves, came into her life. Charles insists that not only is Anna his mate, but she is also a rare and valued Omega wolf. And it is Anna’s inner strength and calming presence that will prove invaluable as she and Charles go on the hunt in search of a rogue werewolf- a creature bound in magic so dark that it could threaten all of the pack.

Cry Wolf is called book one in this series but really there’s a novella that was published first and once I started reading Cry Wolf it was clear that I missed something. It felt like the second book in a series and we’d missed the first one. So I do recommend you read the first one that was in the anthology called On the Prowl or you can find it for kindle as well, I believe. I was able to get past that whole bewildered feeling at the beginning because we are filled in about what happens and it wasn’t a big deal. I think reading the first one would make it easier to connect with Anna and Charles though.

The first half of the book is rather slow paced and I had a hard time reading it. I was eager for some action to happen. About halfway through it did pick up and the last quarter or more was pretty constant action and felt pretty intense. At that point it was hard for me to put the book down and I finally felt like I was really getting to know Anna and Charles and connect with them better. I also enjoyed the twists and turns and felt like it was pretty unpredictable. I never knew where things might go.

The world is pretty cool. I feel like I only got a small taste but I like that there are all kinds of supernatural creatures and things. The history of werewolves and the way they work was also fascinating. You never know how things will go when you start a new werewolf series, but this one felt believable to me. You know- versus wolves that change in a blink of an eye and have clothes on when they shift into human form, etc. There were some neat twists that make them even more interesting. Like Charles can do a touch of magic, they live incredibly long lives (like vampires usually do) and the bond with mates and what that can result in (powers wise).

Werewolves are not my go-to kind of books. They are definitely not my favorite and some I like and some I don’t. But I haven’t found an urban fantasy book about werewolves that I love and this one definitely isn’t one I can say I love. Not yet anyway. But I do plan to start book two and see if I enjoy it more.

Now because I know many of you will ask, no, I have not read the Mercy Thompson series yet. I do own the first few and plan to give them a try because I’ve heard from many that they are amazing.

Anna Latham didn’t know how complicated life could be until she became a werewolf. And until she was mated to Charles Cornick, the son- and enforcer- of Bran, the leader of the North American werewolves, she didn’t know how dangerous it could be either…

Anna and Charles have just been enlisted to attend a summit to present Bran’s controversial proposition: that the wolves should finally reveal themselves to humans. But the most feared Alpha in Europe is dead set against the plan — and it seems like someone else might be too. When Anna is attacked by vampires using pack magic, the kind of power only werewolves should be able to draw on, Charles and Anna must combine their talents to hunt down whoever is behind it all — or risk losing everything…

The last book wasn’t real impressive to me but this book stepped it up by several notches. Anna and Charles are both growing on me and Anna is really growing as a character. She’s easier for me connect with and although she still struggles with what happened to her in the past she’s fighting hard to overcome it, to get past it all. And the steps she takes in this book shows how hard she’s trying. And Charles is always concerned with his actions, that he’ll do something to upset her. Fortunately you can really see the progress they are making and Anna knows to not take everything personal. I like that their relationship is more real then many books. They have struggles but there’s no love triangle and their love is true, there’s no doubt of that.

This book was much faster paced then Cry Wolf. I found myself wanting to just sit down and read through the entire thing. There were mysteries to be solved and murderers to be found. All at the same time there are all these wolves from around the world visiting to discuss whether the wolves would ‘come out’ and that causes lots of tension with so many alpha’s around. I really never figured out any of the mystery aspects. I didn’t know who the killer was, or who was behind the killings (whatever) so I just read like crazy trying to find out more. And I wasn’t disappointed in how it all played out.

While werewolves may not be my favorite supernatural creature to read about I’m really starting to like this series. I hope that the third book, Fair Game can live up to this one.4/5 stars

Patricia Briggs, the #1 “New York Times” bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson novels, “always enchants her readers.” (Lynn Viehl, “New York Times” bestselling author) Now her Alpha and Omega series-set in a world of shifting shapes, loyalty, and passion- brings werewolves out of the darkness and into a society where fear and prejudice could make the hunters prey… They say opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son-and enforcer-of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant alpha. While Anna, an omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind. Now that the werewolves have revealed themselves to humans, they can’t afford any bad publicity. Infractions that could have been overlooked in the past must now be punished, and the strain of doing his father’s dirty work is taking a toll on Charles. Nevertheless, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston, when the FBI requests the pack’s help on a local serial killer case. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves-all of them were. Someone is targeting their kind. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer’s sights…

Okay, this series just gets better and better! I absolutely loved this book! Anna is definitely a character I totally adore and Charles has grown on me quite a lot. This book was one I cruised through in no time. Partly because it was a mystery I was dying to figure out and partly because I just wanted to read more of Anna’s story!

This book takes place a couple years after the last one and in the meantime the werewolves have come out to the world. That’s not really a spoiler cause in the previous book it was discussed and none of that happens in any of the books. Well, maybe the Mercy Thompson series, but not this one. But with the wolves having come out means they have to keep them under a tighter leash. There’s no room for mistakes because they need the human population to grow to like them, not fear them. And Charles is the enforcer. His deeds have started haunting him and this has caused a strain in his and Anna’s relationship. While this is important to the story it’s the mystery they have gone to Boston to solve that is the real meat of the story. Because fae and werewolves have been turning up murdered and they are needed to help figure it out. This distraction is what they are hoping will help Charles snap out of his funk.

Anna is a bold and powerful character. She has found her strength and no longer cowers behind Charles. She’s able to talk to the humans in such a way she can actually make humans trust them. She practically radiates kindness but at the same time is able to say what needs to be said even if it is scary. I really didn’t see or feel any weakness from her and even when she got in a deadly situation she was able to keep her head and not cower in fear. This Anna is one I’ll want to read about forever. She definitely stood out to me.

One thing that really stood out to me in this one is the world that the author has created. It’s become absolutely amazing to me. It’s filled with supernatural creatures of all types and in each book we seem to get introduced to more. But it’s not so many it’s overwhelming. And the way things work with the werewolves and everything else just seems real. Obviously I know it’s not, but when an author has created a world that is so convincing you believe it, well, that’s what I love and Patricia Briggs has certainly done that!

If you haven’t read the series and prefer to only read this one you can. It wouldn’t really be confusing because it’s pretty much it’s own story. But if you want to know Anna’s journey and see what they’ve gone through then you’ll want to start with the first book. Either way, I can definitely say that I very highly recommend you read this series!

5/5 stars for this one!

Disclosure: This book was provided for review purposes by the published. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

Comments

So it wasn’t just me? I haven’t read past the first book in this series because, like you, I kind of felt like I was missing something and that it was a bit slow to my taste. But if it gets better and better…I need to pick up the second book then and try again. Great review–yay for a great giveaway, too!thebookswarm@gmail.com

I am the complete opposite of you where werewolf tales attract me very strongly. I had a moment a few weeks back where it was the only type of books I was reading and it was hard to come down from the werewolf high I had given myself !

I have read all the Mercy Thompson books to date and enjoyed them, although a couple of them were quite dark. I have heard this series is just as good. I appreciated your honest reviews. It looks like this series builds and builds. I am not crazy about it starting off in an anthology though. Thanks for the reviews. Consider me entered in the giveaway! You know where to find me Sitting here watching it snow this morning.

I’m amazed at how you grew to like this series over the books. You didn’t start out as much of a fan at first. Just shows that sometimes the second and even the third books are worth a read in a series like this.You gave great reviews of these! Werewolves aren’t my thing either!

Oh wow!! I just love that you grouped all of these reviews together — the first one sounds like an okay book, but from the way you describe the next two, it sounds like this series grows into something AMAZING! It’s always the best when a series gets better with each and every book, and I love the sound of this really-cool-but-not-too-overwhelming world!

Big fan of Patricia’s books and this series. Love Mercy series, but love Alpha & Omega much more. I love Charles & Anna, they are have very strong personalities and I like that. I also love the secondary characters and love how the two series mix. Would love to win and read this book. Thanks for the giveaway.christinebails@yahoo.com

I really enjoyed reading your series of reviews… i liked hearing how the stories progressed as you read them.I am definitely a werewolf loving lady (can you hear me howling??) so maybe I will give these a try or maybe the last one like you suggested. Thank you for offering the giveaway as well!!Happy Wednesday!

Wow! That’s quite a jump from something that you found mediocre to something that turned out to be phenomenal. I’m not usually one for shifter stories, but if the world building is as good as you say it is, I’d want to check it our myself.

I’m thinking I better start reading something by this author. I have heard several great things about both of her series and I shall have to try one of them. I’m glad that this series got better with time even though it started off pretty rough.